A variety of kinds of computing devices have been developed to provide computing functionality to users in different settings. For example, a user may interact with a mobile phone, tablet computer, wearable device or other computing device to check email, surf the web, compose texts, interact with applications, and so on. Various types of input devices may be employed with the computing devices to enable the user inputs for interaction with the device such as keyboards, trackpads, touchpads, and pointing devices (e.g., a mouse), to name a few examples. Input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard, may include rotary input controls such as a scroll wheel or a dial. Conventional rotary input controls may employ mechanical detent mechanisms to divide rotation into discrete increments. These detent mechanisms provide mechanically produced rotational resistance designed to enhance the tactile “feel” when using the rotary control and enable input to be indexed according to the discrete increments. Since the detent effect is produced mechanically, the rotary action produces noise that may be undesirable in some scenarios. Additionally, friction produced between mechanically engaged components causes the components to wear down over time, which reduces uniformity of the rotation and decreases the product life cycle.